Head cooler



HEAD COOLER Filed May 24, 1955 Ill William H. McGinnis,

INVENTOR.

HEAD COOLER William H. McGinnis, Concord, Calif.

Application May 24, 1955, Serial No. 510,641 1 Claim. c1. 2-171 This invention generally relates to a head cooler, and

more specifically provides a liquid absorbent pad for contact with a portion of a persons head for acting as a cooling agent.

An object of the present invention is to provide a head cooler in the form of a liquid absorbing pad which is saturated with cooling liquid and then positioned in contact with the head of a wearer for acting as a cooling agent for assisting in the cooling and comfort of the person wearing the device.

The present invention finds a readyadaptation for those engaged in active sports or active work. It has been found that by thoroughly saturating the absorbent pad with water, a person will be retained in a much more comfortable condition during his activity.

Another important feature of the present invention is r to provide a head cooler which Will act as a protector for the sweat band found in hats and which may be readily removed therefrom for use in several hats or for replacement or cleaning thereof.

Other important objects of the present invention will reside in its simplicity of construction, ease of operation, cooling effectiveness, its adaptation for its specific purposes and its relatively inexpensive manufacturing costs.

These together. with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hat with the head cooler of the present invention incorporated therein with portions of the hat being broken away illustrating the construction of the head cooler;

Figure 2 is a transverse, vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 2-2 Referring now specifically to Figures 1 and 2 of the I drawings, it will be seen that the numeral 10 generally designates an article of head wear in which the head cooler generally designated by the numeral 12 is incorporated. The article of head wear it) generally includes a crown portion 14 and a peripheral brim 16 thereby forming a conventional hat construction having a sweat band 18 stitched to the crown portion 14 adjacent its juncture with the brim 16 by suitable stitching 20.

The head cooler 10 of the present invention generally includes an annular pad of Water absorbent material designated by the numeral 22 and having a backing member 24 of waterproof material and stitched to the pad 22 by stitching 26. It will be noted that the Waterproof member 24 is of relatively greater width than the pad 22 nited States Patent 0 and is substantially equal in width to the width of the ing member 24 by stitching 28 is a depending supporting i perspiration.

flange 30 which is positioned between the sweat band 18 and the crown portion 14 of the article of head wear 10 whereby the head cooler 12 will be retained in position.

It will be seen thatthe pad 22 together with the waterproof backing member 24 protects the sweat band 18 from damage from perspiration and also absorbs such However, the device finds its greatest adaptation in first saturating the absorbent pad with water whereby the water will retain the head of the wearer in cool condition.

Referring now specifically to Figure 3,. it will be seen that the numeral 32 generally illustrates a modified form of the head cooler of the present invention including a generally semicylindrical pad 34 of absorbent material having a backing member 36 thereon and a strap member 38 of one-piece construction connected to the ends of the backing member 36 wherein the head cooler 32 may be positioned in encircling relation to the Wearers head with the pad 34 which has been saturated with water in contactwith the forehead of the person utilizing the device. It will be understood that this form of the invention is especially useful for those employed in active sports for retaining their heads in a cool and comfortable condition.

Referring now specifically to Figure 4, it will be seen that the numeral 48 generally designates another form of the present invention including crossed dome-forming frame members 50 connected at their bottom ends by a spherical annular member 52, thereby forming a generally semispherical framework. Adjacent the upper end of the head cooler 43 is a square pad of absorbent material 54 and an annular pad 56 is attached to the annular frame member 52 by stitching 58 whereby the pads 54 and 56 are first saturated with water thereby keeping the head of the wearer in cool condition during a certain desig nated period. This form of the invention finds utility especially in conjunction with persons engaged in active work.

The pad 54 may be supported by use of a suction cup or any equivalent supporting means. Also, the head cooler of the present invention may be used to advantage in helmets normally worn by members of the military police.

The strap member 38 may be of two-piece construction with a snap fastener for detachably connecting the ends thereof for encircling the head of the wearer. The elastic strap 38 will permit the head cooler to be employed with various sizes of heads and permits the device to be folded into a compact unit for storage.

It will be understood that in each form of the invention illustrated, the device will act as a head cooler and the pads may be constructed of any suitable cellular spongelike material. Therefore, it will be seen that the device may be utilized either as a cooling agent or a perspiration absorbing means.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A head cooler for use in combination with an article of headwear having a crownportion with a peripheral sweatband on the inner surface thereof at the lower edge, said cooler including an annular pad of water absorbent material for direct engagement with the head of a wearer, a thin annular backing member attached to said pad and extending above the upper edge of the pad, said backing aeaaow member being of waterproof rnaterial and generally equal in width to the sweat band for lying against the inner 8111* face of the sweat band and protecting the same from contact with water absoebed by the pad and with the head of the wearer, and an annular supporting flange attached to the upper edge of the backing member and extending downwardly in spaced parallel relation to the backing member for vertical sliding reception between the outer surface of the sweat-band and the inner surface of the crown portion of the article of headwear and being gen erally equal in width to the sweat band thereby mounting the annular pad for engagement with the head of the wearer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Pegram July 23,

Mears Nov. 23,

Martin Dec. 14,

Sterne Nov. 26,

Heyck Feb. 17,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Nov. 4, 

